Leading the Next Wave of AI-Driven Customer Communications with Sam Allen

AI-driven intelligence is only as good as the data — and the decisions — behind it.

In this interview, Sam Allen, CEO of Iterable, shares how real-time data and explainable AI are reshaping customer engagement. He explains why unified profiles lead to smarter decisions, how transparency builds trust, and the bold innovations making marketing more proactive and personal.

Congrats on stepping into the role of CEO at Iterable. Let’s start with the obvious – why Iterable and why now?

Thank you. I am humbled by the opportunity. For me, it came down to three things: product, people, and timing.

Before joining, I spent time with the leadership team and folks across the company — from marketing to product to engineering. What stood out wasn’t just the talent, but the mindset. People here take real ownership, move fast, and collaborate without ego or politics. It’s the kind of culture I believe in and want to help scale.

On the product side, Iterable is in a strong position. It’s built for marketers and trusted by engineers. It’s flexible, intuitive, and handles complexity well. But what really sets it apart is that it was architected for AI from the ground up. We’re not simply bolting AI features to our platform to keep up with a trend. AI is woven into the fabric of the platform, powering real-time decisioning, personalization, and automation across every channel. Our customers recognize this, which is why we have the highest ratings on sites like G2.

The timing couldn’t be more exciting. I’ve seen plenty of waves in tech, but this AI moment is truly different — the future is being rewritten and shaped in real-time, at tremendous speed, and no one knows exactly what comes next. Iterable has a real opportunity to shape that narrative, both for marketers and the consumers they serve. I also feel that the timing is right from a personal growth perspective. My three decades of experience have honed my skills to put to use at this exact time in this exact space — combining strategic leadership, deep operational insight, and a passion for innovation to help Iterable not just navigate this new era, but lead it.

You’ve led both Fortune 50 giants and fast-moving startups. What leadership principles have remained consistent as you now steer Iterable’s next phase of growth?

It doesn’t matter if you're leading a five-person team or five thousand. The fundamentals hold: lead from the front with purpose, communicate clearly, take care of your people, and set a high bar.

I’ve always believed people do their best work when they understand the “why,” take ownership of the “how,” and feel trusted to deliver. That’s true in the Marines. It was true at Salesforce. And it’s just as true now at Iterable. What changes is the pace — and here, speed matters. We’re building in a category that’s evolving fast, and we don’t have time to admire problems. We’re here to solve them.

That’s why my focus is not just on setting the vision, but on making it real. Execution is everything. That means clear goals, tight priorities, and fast feedback loops. It means building a culture where expectations are unambiguous and accountability is shared. When people know exactly where they’re going and what success looks like, they move with urgency. They take ownership. And they take pride in the outcome. That’s how high-performing organizations are built. And that’s the standard we’re setting at Iterable.

Iterable operates in a highly competitive martech space, with legacy players and agile upstarts alike. What do you see as the company’s biggest differentiators?

While others might offer pieces of the puzzle, Iterable delivers the complete picture: unrivaled performance, industry-leading AI, trusted, enterprise-grade scalability, and world-class partnership. That’s how we help brands not only keep up with change but truly transform their customer relationships.

A lot of platforms talk about "scale." Most of that's just talk. Our approach is different. We're fully cloud-native, and we've architected the platform to handle immense volumes of customer data and process it in real-time. This isn't just for the tech team; for a marketing team, it means they can unify customer data from any source, instantly, and then activate it across every channel without a hiccup. Data isn’t just a backend concern. It's the foundation of great experiences, effective AI, and lasting customer relationships. So this is huge.

Then there’s AI. It’s the buzzword of the moment for many, but for us, it’s not an add-on. It’s fundamental to how our platform operates. AI is deeply embedded into the architecture of Iterable, powering everything from decisioning to execution in real-time. And because it’s explainable, marketers can actually trust it. We’re moving fast toward what’s next. Soon, we’ll be launching Iterable Nova, our AI agent and a completely new approach to marketing!

Finally, partnership. More than 1,200 brands worldwide, from fast-moving disruptors to the world’s largest enterprises, choose Iterable not just as a platform but as a trusted partner driving their most vital customer engagement strategies forward.

As AI becomes table stakes, how do you plan to ensure that Iterable’s “AI-powered communication” positioning maintains its clarity, depth, and strategic edge?

AI is only as good as the data behind it. That’s where Iterable has a real advantage.

As I said, we’ve built one of the most powerful data architectures in the industry. Our platform ingests massive volumes of behavioral and event data from any source and unifies it into a complete, real-time customer profile. It’s fully cloud-native, horizontally scalable, and supports every major integration method, from SDKs and APIs to Smart Ingest and ETL. This complete, real-time view of each customer provides our AI with the rich context it needs to make more intelligent decisions.

Just as important, our AI is, by design, explainable. Marketers don’t just get an output; they see the logic—the “why”—a recommendation was made, what data drove it, and how it can be adjusted. It’s right there in the UX. That transparency builds trust, and it leads to better decisions, at the speed of business.

With Iterable Nova, our new agentic AI operating system, we’re pushing even further — combining powerful data activation with AI that is transparent, adaptable, and built to support the way modern marketers actually work.

With Iterable’s growing global presence, how do you plan to evolve the product and GTM strategy to better support regional needs and nuances?

There is a massive opportunity across the globe. Today, we have six offices worldwide (three in the U.S., plus Lisbon, London, and Sydney) and serve customers in over 50 countries. The key to global expansion is context—deeply understanding regional language, culture, compliance, and behaviors. Our product and go-to-market strategies evolve with this principle at the core.

We’re building regional infrastructure to meet local data governance and performance needs and investing in features tailored to regional preferences, like our recent WhatsApp launch. On the go-to-market side, we partner with experts who bring local knowledge, ensuring we deliver a truly localized solution, not just export a product.

By centering context in everything we do, Iterable is becoming a global platform that empowers brands to engage customers authentically. We’ll continue to double down on this focus on context to guide our growth worldwide.

What kind of feedback are you hearing from customers that reinforces your long-term vision for Iterable?

One thing I believe deeply is that customers want to be heard, but they also want to be led. They want a partner who understands where they are today and has a clear vision for where things are headed. Since stepping into this role, I’ve heard repeatedly that customers trust Iterable to do both.

Our customers tell us that Iterable isn’t just solving today’s problems—we’re already addressing the challenges they know are coming. We’ve been named a G2 Leader in multiple categories season after season and recognized as a Top-Rated platform on TrustRadius for three consecutive years, with customers consistently praising our innovation, product power, AI capabilities, and more. This feedback from industry leaders validates how we operate: customer-informed, future-focused, and always building with purpose. It’s what reinforces our confidence and drives us to continue pursuing our vision.

What kind of culture do you want to preserve, and what leadership behaviors are you hoping to model across the organization?

I consider myself fortunate to join a company with such a strong foundation. Iterable’s culture is rooted in curiosity, trust, humility, and a fierce work ethic. The team’s passion for innovation and collaboration is unmistakable, and that’s really remarkable.

As we step into a new chapter of growth, my focus is on evolving thoughtfully and preserving what makes us great while raising the bar. That starts with modeling a high-agency mindset across the organization: one where urgency, ownership, customer centricity, and bold action become second nature.

I want every team member empowered to move fast, make confident decisions, and take full ownership regardless of title. It’s not about asking permission; it’s about understanding the goal and going after it with focus and discipline. That’s how we’ll reach the next level.

When it comes to leadership, I believe in actions over words. I lead by example: I show up prepared, communicate clearly, and never ask others to do something I wouldn’t do myself. I practice servant leadership by removing obstacles, creating alignment, and fostering an environment where people can do their best work.

The opportunity ahead is significant. To seize it, we need a culture that moves fast, thinks boldly, and executes with precision. That’s the company we’re building—and the mindset I’m committed to growing across the organization.

Are there any unconventional moves on your radar that could shape Iterable’s future, even if they go against current market thinking?

Absolutely. We’re open to bold, unconventional moves, especially when they challenge the status quo in service of a customer-first world. That could mean rethinking traditional pricing models, embracing AI-native interfaces that change how marketers work day to day, or expanding into verticals that have historically been underserved by martech platforms.

Nova, Iterable’s new AI agent, is a perfect example. Instead of reinforcing traditional, manual workflows, Nova reimagines how marketers operate. It proactively surfaces opportunities, guides decision-making, and drives toward outcomes (not just outputs). It’s a fundamentally new way of working. It’s going to make the marketer more influential than ever — with a more prolific seat at the table, driving strategic decisions and shaping the customer experience at every level.

We’re not chasing disruption for its own sake. But if challenging industry norms helps brands connect more intelligently and meaningfully with their audiences, we’re all in.